WTF? Carol Danvers origin retconned

There are coincidences, and then there are comic book coincidences. An actual coincidence is just that, one unlikelihood rams up against another to create a surprising, unexpected result. A comic book coincidence follows roughly the same path, but at the last second diverts to reveal that the coincidence was never actually a coincidence at all, but rather the product of years of and years of meticulous planning and misdirection (usually by a supervillain) that completely alters said character’s mythos in a major way. Today, the comic book coincidence came in the form of The Life of Captain Marvel #3, and the result changes everything we knew about the character.

The Life of Captain Marvel has steadily been peeling back the layers of the life Carol Danvers thought she knew. The series, by Margaret Stohl, Carlos Pacheco and Marguerite Sauvage, kicked off with Carol returning to her hometown after a panic attack on the battlefield sees her go all-in on a supervillain, which sets alarm bells ringing for Captain America and Tony Stark. So, Carol packs her bags and heads off to Harpswell, Maine. Naturally, things don’t go easy for one of the Avengers’ main bruisers. After an accident sends her brother into a coma, Carol ends up finding a batch of love letters her father exchanged with a woman who was not her mother. The revelation is a shocking one, but perhaps not the most pertinent.

That’s because, among the letters, there was also a hidden beacon that activated, sending a Kree clone hurtling towards the Earth, seemingly hellbent on taking Carol to task. While the Kree warrior certainly made a Terminator-like beeline for the Danvers household, cutting a swathe through Harpswell’s seasonal fishing community as she went, it turns out that the clone wasn’t after Carol at all. In fact, the clone was after her mother, Marie Danvers, who, in the last panel of the issue, reveals herself to also seemingly be a Kree warrior (though of a different sort). As she confronts the clone, Marie’s modest outfit transforms into a suit of Kree Battle Armor. The green armor hints that she, too, is a Kree captain.

This revelation really does a number on Captain Marvel continuity. Carol’s origin story has been retold numerous times, but there are a few constants. Originally a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, Carol Danvers befriended the alien superhero Mar-Vell, and ended up assisting him in various missions. One mission involved a device called the Psyche-Magnitron. The device exploded while Carol was in its vicinity and had the unexpected side effect of splicing her DNA with that of the Kree. The hybridization process left Carol with unfathomable cosmic powers, like the ability to fly, shoot photonic blasts from her fists and take a hit like nobody’s business.

That’s not true anymore.

The Life of Captain Marvel #3 effectively establishes that Carol’s run-in with Mar-Vell and the Psyche-Magnitron was not her first time encountering the Kree. This is a major departure from the hero’s original origin story, which saw her effectively stumble into her powers as a well-meaning citizen just trying to do some good in a weird, alien situation. The new issue may hint that Carol was always predisposed to become a hero, and that her Kree-human hybridization might not be the result of the Psyche-Magnitron at all, but rather a matter of simple genetics — if we are assume that her mother is, in fact, Kree and her father was human. Now that’s a comic book coincidence if there ever was one.

The revelation also has the added effect of fleshing out Marie’s character even more. Up until this point, Marie Danvers has been portrayed as a woman who was cheated on years ago and simply doesn’t want to address it, much like she doesn’t want to address the fact that her husband was an abusive jerk. The reveal that she is a Kree fighter (we have to assume she’s a fighter, as she claims she can take care of the Kree clone, who doesn’t seem receptive to the diplomatic approach) adds a layer of complexity to the character, putting her on the same power level (or greater) as Carol, but casting her in the tragic light of someone who knows a relationship is bad but won’t leave. “I thought could save him,” Marie says. For a Kree warrior, she’s certainly swamped in a very human, and relatable, drama.

There are some mysteries that remain, though. The issue also reveals that Carol seemingly witnessed her father being unfaithful to her mother. In a flashback, we see Joseph Danvers snogging a floating woman that Carol determines “definitely wasn’t from around here.” The Life of Captain Marvel has so far hinted heavily that Joseph Danvers’ fling was with an alien woman, whose identity is yet to be revealed. The reveal that Marie Danvers is really a Kree lends some credence to the theory that she was actually that other woman but dealing with the perils of a dual identity. It would certainly be very strange for a jerkwad like Joseph Danvers to have attracted the affections of not one, but two alien women (lest he is later revealed to be Star Trek‘s Captain James T. Kirk in disguise). It’s all sticky and complicated, and we won’t know more for certain until The Life of Captain Marvel #4. Regardless, the Kree clone who has been tearing Harpswell apart certainly has it out for Marie Danvers.

There is a certain amount of irony in the fact that Captain Marvel’s origin story has been so spectacularly rewritten now, when the hero’s cultural cache is nearing its zenith. The first teaser for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Captain Marvel released just the other day and is poised to delve into its own take on Carol’s backstory. On top of that, many fans are clamoring to see Brie Larson’s version of the hero take Thanos down a peg when Avengers 4 hits theaters, especially after the heartbreaking end of Avengers: Infinity War. It’s unclear if Captain Marvel or Avengers 4 will take Carol’s rejuvenated story into account, but it doesn’t really matter. The biggest Captain Marvel story is happening in comics right now, and we’re eager to see how it plays out.

In general I find retconning origins usually doesn’t make things better, and comes off as lazy. I believe Riv and Xerxes when they say it’s good so I’ll check it out... but that CBR writeup doesn’t really do it any favors.